I Am the Conqueror

Straight out of our beautiful city of San Diego is I Am the Conqueror.The four-piece band consists of Josh Dowhen on bass and vocals, James Bohardt on guitar and vocals, Stephen Colbertson also on guitar and back-up vocals, and Joshua Haas on drums. The group makes melodic pop-punk music that’s perfect for any music-lover. IATC sounds like some of everyone’s favorites: Blink-182, Fall Out Boy, The Wonder Years, and more. The band yields over 2,500 fans all over the internet and over 2,000 song plays on ReverbNation.

Recently, I Am the Conqueror released a new EP titled Bandits. The EP showcases the talents of these four guys in just seven tracks. The band released a music video last month for the song “Choke Artist” which has generated over 6,700 views. Some of the commenters find the band’s music to be similar to “a grittier [version of] The Wonder Years.” I Am the Conqueror is known to have fun and upbeat live shows at just about every venue you’ve heard of in San Diego and beyond. No matter what your genre of choice may be, I Am the Conqueror brings something special for every listener. Don’t forget to check out Bandits and to catch them at Epicentre in Mira Mesa on January 4th for an Answers for Adam event with Oliver Trolley. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/IATCHC Twitter: https://twitter.com/IAmTheC_hcp ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/iamtheconqueror BandCamp: http://iamthec.bandcamp.com/

The Greater Heights

Get down with The Greater Heights. If you're into fun and upbeat music, this is the band for you. The Greater Heights is a musical group that consider their genres to be world, indie, and pop. The band has been making music for two years now and are currently working on tracks in the studio. The band is made up of Chase Johnson, Chris Crain, and Maxwell Hobbs. The Greater Heights reflect the music stylings of bands such as Mayday Parade and All Time Low.. . . .

The band could trigger a blast from the past by playing music that sounds like the stuff you listened to in 2007 but they also add their own unique flair to each song they create. The boyish singing gives off a positive tone that could light up anyone's day and the addictive songs stay with you for hours on end. Fans have said that the band has "good sound and tight vocals" as well as their music being "power pop at its best!" (Source: http://www.sharedmusicreview.com/TheGreaterHeights) Give this band a listen. They'll make you want to dance all over the place and give you feel-good vibes all night. Although the group does not have any tour dates coming up, keep your eyes peeled for their new release in the coming months!

Gogol Bordello: Our Beloved Troubadours

“Troubadours are coming, Troubadours are here, their word is fire, their sound is a spear...”

You want to dance? You want to party? You want to rock? Are you a punk at heart, nomadic at soul? Well, Tunage has just the band for you that will satisfy your animalistic fix.

Introducing Gogol Bordello, a gypsy punk band that will blow you away. This band of misfits include all the instruments you need to get you to jig, head bang, and dance in circles like a loon all at once: vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, drums and percussion, violin, bass, and my personal favorite, accordion. They’re nothing like you’ve ever heard and trust me; you’ll want to run off to an adventure when listening to one of their tunes. The mad collection of chants, Ukrainian choruses, accelerating tempo, lovely energy, and a rugged lead vocalist to put you in the proper Gypsy mood is all just a small taste of what this band has to offer.

Born in 1999 and led by fearless leader, Eugene Hutz, Gogol Bordello mainly influenced by Gypsy music (Eastern European music that is usually highly instrumental), but has also experimented with punk and even dub in some albums. So, what is Gogol Bordello? It’s not just a cool sounding Gypsy name. ‘Gogol’ was a name adopted from a much-loved writer for Ukrainian and Russian literature. As for ‘Bordello’, this is a translation from Italian meaning brothel. Now, that you’ve gotten your short history lesson from Tunage Magazine, you can run home and tell your mom and dad that punk rock actually holds enriching educational value. Huzzah!

Hey, we’re not finished with you yet. We’ve got some great music to show you. Eugene and his crew have released up to nine albums, giving you the chance to fill your ears with Gypsy Punk to your heart’s content. The latest album release in 2011 was titled “МОЯ ЦЫГАНИАДА” (50 points to the reader who can translate that one) which is sadly not available to the United States. Still, their best songs can be found in Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike (2005), Super Taranta! (2007), and their latest U.S. release; Trans-Continental Hustle (2010). When Gogol Bordello isn’t recording great tunes to dance to, the band had the phenomenal stamina to go on long tours across the globe. If they’re ever in your hometown, I would highly suggest paying them a visit. Their amazing fan following has grown over the years for their energetic and festive performances. Don’t believe me? Check out this footage…

A particular song that has become a fan favorite is “Through the Roof ‘n’ Underground” from the album, Multi Kontra Cultic vs. Irony (2002) which has been found to be a great road tripping song, thanks to the film, Wrist Cutters: A Love Story. So next time you’re taking that two hour trip in L.A. vehicle congestion, this tune will definitely save you from the insanity from being stuck in traffic for too long. Your bum hurts, your arms are tired, your foot is mad at you… it’s not a fun feeling. Partying with Gogol Bordello, now that my friends is a fun-tastic feeling (insert round of applause for the poetic choice of vocabulary).

Gogol Bordello has definitely become a huge part of my “Zombie Apocalypse List” (it’s a list that if there ever was a zombie apocalypse, these bands would serve perfectly as a soundtrack to my new life as I escapade in my new nomadic life killing merciless zombies). This list includes but is not limited to the following Gogol Bordello songs that I know you’ll love: “Pala Tute”, “Dogs Were Barking”, “Wonderlust King”, “Rebellious Love” (If you’re in the middle of saving the love of your life from a rabid zombie attack), and “Sally”.

Now go forth my friends! Discover the wonderful world of Gogol Bordello and hold them close to your punk rocker heart.

No Hesitation

EDM fans everywhere, fasten your seatbelts for No Hesitation. If you're the kind of guy or girl who loves to dance, Mike Kenny makes the right music for you. Hailing from San Diego, Mike takes electro house to a whole new level. Growing up, Mike was influenced by whatever his friends listened to. He originally only listened to pop and alternative rock and in later years listened to hardcore music. It wasn't until February of 2010 that he went to his first rave. He immediately fell in love with electronic dance music. Two months later, Mike started producing his own music. Talk about influenced!

In the beginning, Mike wasn't planning on making music professionally. "It was something I just started messing around with and eventually I took it seriously and wanted to make professional music." Today, Mike creates remixes and original songs as well. Some songs are straight-up bangers while others could be considered beautiful. Some of Mike's biggest influences are Hardwell, Nicky Romero, and Tommy Trash. Needless to say, all of these artists sum up No Hesitation perfectly. You're probably wondering where the name No Hesitation came from, aren't you? "No Hesitation was an inside joke some friends and I had back in high school, which I can't really explain, haha." We may never know! What we do know, however, is the fact that Mike is dedicated to his love of EDM. Check out his music on SoundCloud and keep up with him on Facebook.Soundcloud: www.soundcloud.com/no-hesitationFacebook: www.facebook.com/djnohesitation

Bristol To Memory The Meaning of Music

Hear ye, hear ye! Another brilliant discovery! Gather around to hear the tale of Bristol To Memory. I had the pleasure of seeing this band perform live recently, and needless to say; I was pleasantly impressed with them. Bristol To Memory is an alternative Pop-Punk band that hails from the wonderful world of Los Angeles. They have adopted influential sounds that tend to remind me of The Lumineers, Say Anything, and Fall Out Boy. I know what you’re thinking: What? Is that even possible? Yes my friends, yes it is. One of my personal favorites, “Marty McDy” from their latest EP, Don’t Hold Your Breath starts off with a nostalgic clean electric guitar riff before kicking into an upbeat tune that has the same spunk as Fall Out Boy, primarily because of the singing style of the lead vocals.

Discovering Lemuria

Lemuria

One of the best feelings in the world has got to be that perfect random discovery of an awesome band when you’re just going along about your day. I stumbled upon Lemuria in the most unlikely way: browsing through EBay for first edition copies of my favorite F. Scott Fitzgerald books. Now, the correlation between Lemuria and Fitzgerald is simply an awesome T-Shirt design they’ve created in the past. So, with my curiosity peaked, I looked this band up, and I found pure gold.

Lemuria is an indie punk rock band trio, based out of Buffalo, New York. Alex Kerns takes the role of the drummer and shares vocals with guitarist, Sheena Ozzella, and Max Gregor plays the bass. These guys have been bringing sweet tunes to the ears of the public since 2004. Their influences include Superchunk, Lemonheads, Sebadoh, Thin Lizzy, and Wipers.

Serenade & Strum

Local music takes a new high in San Diego with an acoustic/folk band named Serenade and Strum. The band expresses their love for God but also give the gift of beautiful music to anyone despite their beliefs or choices. Tunage discovered this when the band played at an acoustic show at Epicentre in Mira Mesa. The audience was completely blown away by the gorgeous voice of Jen Horning and the rest of the band’s beautiful musicianship.

The duo of Benji Horning and Jen Horning is a remarkable one. They both live in San Diego and make music here together. The two are happily married and share a three-year-old daughter. They have been married for a few years and Benji has said that he fell in love with Jen when he heard the sound of her voice. The full band of Serenade and Strum consists of a few other members on keys, drums, and even a cello. Every instrument together turns the acoustic duo into a big folk band.

Their music is described as acoustic, folk, and Christian. With smooth vocals and the most natural-sounding bass that anyone has ever heard, Serenade and Strum light up a venue with the sound of their music. A handful of their songs feel positive and soothing while others are sultry and slow. If you’re a fan of acoustic music with an incredible vocalist, their songs are for you. Jen’s voice captures the attention of anyone in the room and is simply unforgettable. You will never forget that striking voice once you hear it. Her singing style has been compared to that of Mama Cass and Little Dragon. It’s groovy and very soothing as well; it is something you don’t hear nowadays. Needless to say, Jen is a woman who is more talented than most of the rising stars all over the world.

Although Serenade and Strum are an independent band, their talent is unfathomable. Tunage can guarantee that the first listen is one that you will never have the ability to forget. You can like Serenade and Strum on their Facebook page and you can watch and listen to them on their Youtube channel.- Tunage

The March Ahead

You have to admit, one of the greatest perks in being a loyal fan to a certain band or musician is seeing the brilliant side projects that the artists work on, and speaking of side projects, The March Ahead is one of the best collaborative side projects that I’ve come across.

We Are All Going To Die - The March Ahead

The March Ahead is a two-person band comprised of Johnny Franck (Attack Attack!) and Mike Caswell (K Sera). This beautiful collaboration was brought together by their “mutual love for the Fleet Foxes and Starcraft 2”. If that’s not glorious teamwork, I don’t know what is. With the blending of Johnny Franck’s hardcore punk style and Mike’s theatrical progressive background, The March Ahead is a fresh sound that fans absolutely love.

So far, they’ve released a self titled EP and a B-Sides for listeners to enjoy. Their work was produced completely by both Johnny and Mike’s loving fan base. They had their own kick starter project and reached their goal, and because of that, they returned the favor with exceeding our expectations and anticipations. This project was a great testament to show what the loyalty and love for music can accomplish and that sometimes the best music is directly funded by the people who want to listen to the work.

The March Ahead project wasn’t a one-time deal. As of know, there’s anticipation for new music from these guys. They also have stayed in touch with fans through their Facebook page. I highly recommend for you to check them out. If you’re already a fan, or are one of those hopeless romantics that have fallen head over heels in love instantly, you can pre-order their first t-shirt design ever!

Deadbeat Nightlife

Ever heard of pre-hardcore? This is the styling of a San Diego favorite called Deadbeat Nightlife. They were out on the SD music scene for quite a while in over the past few years and brought hundreds of fans to watch them play at a local music venue called Soma. Unfortunately, after countless great shows and their popularity rising, the band split suddenly. It had been over a year that they weren’t together… until now.

Deadbeat Nightlife is back. They kicked off a show at Soma with Oh, Guardian and Killing the Messenger on April 28th and played a killer show. People around the venue were heard saying that this band isn’t the like the others and they had something new to bring to the table. That’s exactly the vibe everyone got when they noticed their singer’s powerful vocals and lyrics as well as the drummer pounding occasional blastbeats and even other complex drum patterns.

The band consists of Micah Minor doing vocals, Johnny Awford on guitar, Matt Cesena on guitar, Deyvid Hosburg on bass, and Kai Taylor on drums. Although unsigned, Deadbeat Nightlife is a group that can manage to play hardcore music without giving people a headache. They’re recording a brand new EP as of now that will be released in just a few weeks.

When Tunage asked the band about their breakup and how they picked up the pieces again, Johnny Awford gave us the whole backstory on the breakup and their seemingly random event that happened to get Deadbeat Nightlife to make music again.

Tunage: What was the reason for the band breaking up?

Johnny: I think it pretty much all started when Kevin was out of the band. It's a really long story, but the long and short of it, our manager talked us into taking out Kevin. He was like the glue. Everything after that wasn't the same vibe. It just wasn't really the same band. Then we had a show at Soma with Darkest Hour and Conner sat down and asked us, "What are your plans for Deadbeat Nightlife after the show?" I said we were going to continue, keep doing what we were going to do, and then that's when they were like, "Well, we're going to quit and start this other band." That's pretty much the originals besides me gone. I just hung up my guitar for a couple of years.

Tunage: How did you guys go about forming again?

Johnny: Well, right at the time that we had split, I had just finished writing a full album and I still had all the songs written and still wanted to do something with it, but at the point that I got picked up to tour with a band, I needed somebody to live in my apartment and that was Matt [Cesena]. I left the tabs there while gone and when I came back from touring he showed me that he could play them so we started learning all of them just for fun and then randomly one day Adam, our manager, hit me up and said he wanted to get another band going in San Diego and he needed someone to write music. I told him I still had a full album of Deadbeat stuff. I was wondering what he thought about putting the band back together and he was down for it and that's when he found Kai [Taylor].

Tunage: That's cool. Did you guys come into this thinking to do things differently?

All: Oh yeah.

Johnny: 100% different. This time everyone is recording their own instruments instead of me doing everything and hopefully people will be able to start writing their own parts. We actually practice before shows now on a legitimate schedule. Now it's more of a hands-on, do it yourself kind of approach when before we were just sending signals out everywhere hoping that someone would just take us under their wing.

Tunage: How would you guys describe your music in your own words?

Johnny: I guess I would call it pre-hardcore, because all these bands nowadays are post-hardcore. We’re going for that 2007 sound before it was all about the breakdown, chorus, rinse, repeat.

Micah: Holy shit, that's really good, actually. Pre-hardcore.

Tunage: Well, that's interesting! How does it feel for Deadbeat Nightlife to be back again?

Micah: Whoooo!

Johnny: It feels right. It's something that never should have ended but we've got it back together. I learned a lot of shit when I went on that tour so I have an idea of what we need to do now.

The band is back and totally ready to release new music to everyone. If you were a fan of Deadbeat Nightlife in the past few years and bought an old shirt from them that was hand-painted and it washed off, come see them at their merch table at any of their shows and swap your old shirt for a brand new one! They’re also willing to give free EP’s in exchange as well.

Make sure you like them on their Facebook page before you log off your computer!

So Far Gone

Credits: Olivia Sibley

Just about every band can make music and spread a message through their songs. Unlike any band, So Far Gone can spread a message and leave their fans with something to remember.

The three-piece group originated in San Diego with a lineup consisting of Cameron Shiflet, Jeff Burg, and Joey Mann. In August of 2009, the band's bassist and best friend, Joey, passed away and left the band mourning for months. After months of sadness, Cameron and Jeff decided to make Joey an inspiration instead of a tragic memory. Sam Spofford, a close friend of Joey's, was included in the band in 2010 as So Far Gone's bassist. It has been said by Cameron that Joey is the heart of the band. After hard work and a lot of time, the band made an EP titled ‘Don’t Worry, It Gets Bigger.’ The five-track EP includes songs that are fast-paced and very catchy to anyone's ear. Some of the songs have even been played on radio stations across the city of San Diego!

The band recently won first place in a Battle of the Bands competition that was held at Epicentre, a local music venue in Mira Mesa. Dozens of fans showed up for the show to support them and they put on one hell of a show! With perfect stage presence, fun lighting, and flawless music skills, So Far Gone took the crown that they deserved.

Don'y Worry, It Gets Bigger

The obvious fact about So Far Gone is that they are truly dedicated to playing music that is fun and makes people happy. Their tough time became an open door to inspiration and that’s what makes the band who they are. If you’re in for a fun time or you even just want to listen to some cool music, scope out So Far Gone. Good vibes everywhere.